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After wrapping up its second full year, the Washington state Department of Agriculture’s (WSDA) Washington Bee Atlas (WABA) has collected and identified records of nearly 30 new or rare bee species in the state, a news release stated.
Seventeen species were new state records, meaning they are the first known records of finding the bee in Washington. WABA also found 12 species that had not been recorded in the state for at least 50 years, one of which was most recently recorded in the state in 1882.
WABA volunteers collected the new and rare bee species from 2023 to 2025. Volunteers submit their bees to WSDA’s Pollinator Program for identification at the end of each season, but the identification process can take months to years, depending on how rare the bee is and how difficult it is to identify, the release stated.
WABA’s effort to document the state’s native bees and their host plants will provide data necessary to conserve and help these essential pollinators thrive. The data collected will also inform plans to develop ecoregion-specific plant lists and seed mix recommendations.
WABA collected the following state record bees, which had never been recorded in Washington before.
Some species were discovered in multiple counties:
• Andrena vulpicolor — Grant County
• Calliopsis scitula — Douglas and Grant counties
• Coelioxys alternatus — Grant and Yakima counties
• Coelioxys apacheorum — Benton, Clark and Kittitas counties
• Coelioxys banksi — Clallam, Clark and Grant counties
• Coelioxys deani — Clark County
• Dufourea scabricornis — Stevens County
• Eucera acerba — Chelan County
• Lasioglossum obnubilum — Kittitas County
• Lasioglossum pavoninum — Clallam County
• Melissodes lustrus — Yakima County
• Perdita claypolei — Chelan, Kittitas and Yakima counties
• Perdita fallax — Stevens County
• Perdita nuda — Douglas County
• Pseudoanthidium nanum — Clark County
• Sphecodes pecosensis — Clallam, Clark, Garfield, Thurston and Yakima counties
• Stelis carnifex — Kittitas and Yakima counties
WABA collected the following rare bees, which had last been recorded in Washington before 1970.
• Andrena commoda — Columbia and Yakima counties. Last recorded: 1969
• Anthidium formosum — Chelan, Grant and Yakima counties. Last recorded: 1882
• Anthophora edwardsii — Chelan, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Whitman and Yakima counties. Last recorded: 1937
• Calliopsis scutellaris — Douglas and Grant counties. Last recorded: 1920
• Calliopsis xenus — Kittitas County. Last recorded: 1949
• Ceratina sequoiae — Chelan and Walla Walla counties. Last recorded: 1919
• Ceratina micheneri — Clark and Klickitat counties. Last recorded: 1945
• Diadasia ochracea — Yakima County. Last recorded: 1903
• Heriades occidentalis — Columbia, Grant and Okanogan counties. Last recorded: 1920
• Hylaeus verticalis — Spokane County. Last recorded: 1934
• Lasioglossum leucozonium — Grant County. Last recorded: 1906
• Megachile wheeleri — Chelan, Kittitas, and Yakima counties. Last recorded: 1936
The discovery of the new and rare bees was revealed at the annual Master Melittologist Conference in Corvallis, Oregon, on March 14. The announcement comes just months after WABA announced 24 new and rare bee species last July. The Washington Bee Atlas is discovering large numbers of new and rare bees because it is the first statewide effort to sample them since the early 1900s, and most areas of the state are significantly undersampled.
Still in its infancy after having started in 2023 and only completing its first full field season in 2024, the Washington Bee Atlas has experienced dramatic expansion and success thanks to state funding for the program, close partnerships with Oregon State University (OSU) and Washington State University (WSU), and due to the program’s rapidly growing number of volunteers, according to the release.
“Oregon State University built the framework for what a Bee Atlas can look like. Their training and data systems allowed us to get off the ground running here in Washington,” Karen Wright, WSDA’s pollinator taxonomist, said.
The public has also shown extensive support for the project. So far, over 150 volunteers have completed the WABA training, collected, and submitted bees for identification.
WABA volunteers may only collect on property where the landowner has given the program permission to do so. Numerous public and private landowners have granted volunteers this permission.
“Without access to land, we wouldn’t be able to complete our mission of documenting Washington’s bees. We are grateful to everyone who has granted us the ability to collect on their land,” Wright said.
State, county and city landowners who would like to permit WABA volunteers to survey for native bees on their property can email pollinators@agr.wa.gov for more information.
The Washington Bee Atlas is seeking volunteers to continue to grow the program and document Washington’s native bees and their host plants.
Volunteers undergo training through OSU’s Master Melittologist Program. The program is similar to the Master Gardener Program, but the focus is on native bees. Because most bees cannot be identified to species from photos, volunteers learn to capture, preserve, and pin museum-quality specimens and document their host plants, the release stated. They receive all the training and supplies they need to collect and pin the bees.
Those who do not want to collect bees but who are interested in learning more about and supporting native bees can visit WSDA’s native bees webpage at https://tinyurl.com/2fa2kw9f and the Washington Native Bee Society at https://tinyurl.com/mu2rax6v.
See photos of the bees here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdagov/albums/72177720332577292/
